


blooming

by mekii



Category: IZONE (Band), Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Cha Junho-centric, Character Development, Comfort, Fluff, Holding Hands, Jappreciation (Junho Appreciation), M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Shyness, Sleepy Cuddles, Sweet, way too sweet actually yikes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:59:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21768748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mekii/pseuds/mekii
Summary: Produce X 101's Cha Junho was trapped in a shell he wanted to leave, unable to be as comfortable on and off stage as he wanted to. The show never gave him enough time to work on his abilities and performance before it gives him another song to memorize, another choreography to learn.X1's Chacha is a lot more confident: with Eunsang's hand in his, the camera isn't as scary, and cuddling with Yohan at night makes him believe there's nothing they can do. Improving is hard, but when his members smile at him, he knows it's worth it.
Relationships: Cha Junho & Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun, Cha Junho & Everyone, Cha Junho & Han Seungwoo, Cha Junho & Kang Minhee, Cha Junho & Kim Chaewon (IZONE), Cha Junho & Kim Wooseok | Wooshin, Cha Junho & Kim Yohan, Cha Junho & Lee Eunsang, Cha Junho & Lee Hangyul, Cha Junho & Nam Dohyon, Cha Junho/Kim Yohan, Cha Junho/Lee Eunsang
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	blooming

Produce X 101 was a mess.

Really, Junho refuses to watch videos of his time on the show. First of all, as much as he loved the others, it doesn’t bring good memories now. Secondly… the Cha Junho on the screen is awkward. The face he sees on the screen makes him understand why people compare him to a robot.

But he’s not a robot, he has a heart, and it breaks a little bit when he gets called a robot. Maybe life would be easier for a Cha Junho as emotionless as the one knetz see.

It’s not his fault, not really. He wasn’t used to the camera (still isn’t, to be honest) and he barely knew anyone. Dealing with these two new things at the same time was harder than he thought it’d be and he failed to get rid of his issues before the show ended. It got better (more experience with the camera, less trainees to know and interact with), but it never got perfect.

X1 is different.

In X1, Junho feels at ease. He can focus on his work without worrying about his screen time, evil editing or interacting with pure strangers. Winning Produce X 101 also helped: doubting himself is harder when he knows he got enough votes to be in the group. When his name was announced, he thought he could fly.

(Then the scandal happened and he felt like the sun burned his wings, but that’s for another story.)

“You’re okay?” Eunsang pants, laying on the floor next to him. “What are, are you thinking about?”

Junho is too breathless to answer, so he lets his fingers find Eunsang’s and squeezes them to show him he heard him and isn’t ignoring his question. The other understands and waits, both of them trying to breath.

“Nothing, just, I already know half the choreography.”

Eunsang squeezes his hand in return, supportive, but probably wondering what he means.

“Yeah, you do.”

“It was harder on Produce.”

He feels Eunsang rolling on his side to face him and does the same. Eunsang’s cheeks are red and Junho wonders if his look as pretty. Probably not.

“I know,” Eunsang says, voice soft even when he puts his free hand on Junho’s mouth when he sees him open it, “no, I really know, Junho. You’ve improved so much, it’s amazing.”

Junho licks the hand and laughs at his friend’s disgusted expression when he takes it back, wiping it on Junho’s shirt. The slightly older boy doesn’t mind, it’s just karma doing its job.

“I’m a better dancer and a better singer, it feels weird to think about before Produce.”

Eunsang shakes his head, telling him that no, that’s not what he meant. There’s a grin on his face, like he knows a secret he can’t wait for him to discover so they can talk about it. Eunsang always keeps secrets though, and while Junho doubts he’s seriously hiding something from him, he knows his friend won’t tell him the reason behind his smile.

He still asks because he’s curious. As expected, Eunsang smiles at him like he’s a cute, naïve little thing.

“Nah, I won’t tell you,” he gets up, offering him a hand, “it wouldn’t be as funny as watching you try to figure it out. Also, I don’t know how to say it without being too cheesy. Wanna do the choreography again?”

Junho doesn’t say anything, taking the hand without a word but with a smile. It doesn’t matter that much after all. One of the people he loves the most is proud of him and acknowledged his improvement, it’s all he wants.

Still, he thinks about it even when he’s Yohan, cuddling at midnight in the latter’s bed. They used to do it because they missed someone, because they needed someone to hold them when the stress became too much. Now, they mostly do it out of habit and because they feel like it. Yohan’s arms are comfortable, soft and warm. Yohan’s torso is the best plushie, like it was made to be cuddled.

Tonight, Junho is the little spoon and Yohan, a great pillow. It seems like it’ll be one of their quiet nights, the nights they spent together without a lot of words. They’re not mad, they’re not sad, they’re just satisfied with cuddles and don’t need anything else.

But when Junho closes his eyes, ready to fall asleep, Yohan talks:

“Junho?”

“Mm.”

“What’s bothering you?”

“Nothing,” he says before snuggling closer to his friend.

Yohan doesn’t bother calling him out on his lie and chooses to poke his cheek until he gives up. Junho doesn’t know if he ends up talking because he’s whipped or because Yohan is just too annoying.

“Eunsang said I’ve improved, but he wasn’t talking about dancing or singing. I don’t know what’s left, I don’t even know if there’s something left. I didn’t write anything, I’m not like Seungyoun-hyung and Dohyon…”

“Oh, that. You really don’t know?”

“Eunsang told you?”

Yohan laughs at his wide eyes and kisses his nose. Junho frowns: it’s cute and it makes him feel all (positively) weird inside, but it tickles.

“He didn’t need to. We all know what he meant, you’re just blind.”

“I’m not!” Junho protests, getting up.

Yohan stops him with an arm, putting him back in place. He was only pretending anyway, it’s not like he’d ever refuse cuddles with his best friend (who knows it damn well).

“Don’t worry, it’s cute,” and the older boy has the audacity to smile at him, showing him that adorable smile.

“Shut up,” he mumbles and buries his face in the other’s shirt, “you’re cuter.”

“Junho, are you tired?”

He’s back to the practice room, but this time, he’s with the whole group and not only Eunsang. Flash’s choreography is hard and tiring. He’s surprised he managed to wait until Seungwoo called a break to collapse on the floor.

“Kinda. What’s wrong?”

Minhee blinks, like he didn’t expect him to care. Junho understands they’re not that close (well, they were still strangers when they hugged each other after winning a place in X1’s lineup), but it shouldn’t be surprising that he cares about every single one X1 member. They’re all family now.

“I need to practice the last part,” the other starts, but Junho gets up before he’s done. No need to let him finish, he already knows what he wants.

“Okay, let’s practice then. I’m not that tired anyway.”

Minhee smiles and Junho wonders if his cheeks looked that round on Produce X 101. Probably not. What a waste, they’re really cute.

“Thanks, Chacha.”

“It’s nothing, Mini.”

The nickname leaves his mouth with ease and he doesn’t notice it until he sees Wooseok grinning at them. The man mouths a “happy to see you’re close now” (or maybe something about dinner, Junho isn’t an expert at reading lips, but the first option makes more sense considering it’s still morning).

Whatever. No need to correct himself, what’s done is done, right? He doesn’t think about it more than he should, not when Seungwoo announces they’ll have a free afternoon.

“Can I see Chaewon after lunch, hyung?” he asks his leader as they leave for lunch, Wooseok right behind them.

(Being the mature and responsible adults they are, Seungyoun and Hangyul are much more behind, trying to get the others to do the new weird thing they just thought of.)

“Sure, just don’t let Dispatch get you. You’re not Daniel yet,” Seungwoo jokes, and Junho only smiles because he likes him.

“I’ll never be Daniel-sunbaenim.”

“No, you’ll be Cha Junho. That’s just as cool, maybe even better.”

Junho rolls his eyes, because berk, that’s just Seungwoo being a supportive dad. Said supportive dad insists, though, because yes Kang Daniel is cool, but being known as Cha Junho is better than being someone’s copy, isn’t it?

“I suppose you’re right, hyung.”

“Of course I am!”

Seungwoo’s smile gets softer and Junho feels like someone squeezed his heart a bit too hard. He looks like a proud father. Junho misses his dad.

“By the way, Chacha, thank you for helping Minhee. That was really kind of you.”

Junho scoffs and ears a playful slap (on the shoulder and really not that hard) from Wooseok.

“Don’t make that face! It’s true, you helped him a lot. It was cute to see you two together.”

“I wasn’t helping him, hyung. He couldn’t get the last part right and it sucks to practice alone. The others were all busy or more tired than me, so I went with him.”

“You’re really dense, Chacha,” and it’s amazing how Wooseok manages to make it sound like he’s calling him cute, “you’re really dense.”

“He went to you because he needed help and you looked amazing when we danced that part.”

“Uh? Hyungs, I’m really not a main dancer, people go to Hangyul or Dongpyo when they need help with a choreography, not me!”

This time, Seungwoo is the one who rolls his eyes.

“Think about it, kiddo. Should we wait for the others? I’m scared of what Seungyoun has in mind, his smile looked a bit too dangerous to me.”

And, just like that, their conversation is over. Wooseok squeezes his shoulder before running past him, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

“Can you do this move again? Slowly?” Minhee had asked a few times.

Oh.

Yeah, Wooseok is right. He’s a bit dense.

“Minhee asked my help, noona! My help! And the hyungs and Dongpyo were right here! Hyeongjun was drinking but Minhee could have waited a bit to ask him! But he asked _me_!”

Chaewon puffs her cheeks and takes another chip. He has no idea how, but she keeps a reserve of food her managers don’t know about. Well, she suspects they do, but they let her keep it, even when they’re preparing a comeback and the usual performances for award shows and festivals.

“Yeah, I know, you’ve been repeating yourself for the past ten minutes. I didn’t know you could talk that much, to be honest.”

“Sorry,” his shoulders drop, ashamed, “I didn’t want to be annoying.”

“You’re not! It’s not a bad thing! You have a pretty voice, it’s nice to hear it.”

He steals a chip from her and rolls on the grass. It feels nice to be outside.

“But do you really understand what happened? Hyeongjun is an amazing dancer and he’s from Starship too, they’re best friends and he still asked _me_!”

“And I’m supposed to be surprised? Okay, I am, but just a bit. If you danced like what you showed me, it’s not that surprising he asked you for help. He probably also wanted to get closer to you, you’re debuting together, after all.”

She’s not wrong.

“You’re right.”

He pretends he doesn’t see her take a notebook out of her bag and draw a small (cute) heart on a page with her name, almost filled with other hearts. He also ignores how the page with his name only has one heart.

“I know. You’ve improved a lot since Produce X 101 and it shows, you should be more confident.”

“Urgh, not you too,” he groans. “Everyone talks about my improvement these days, but Eunsang says it’s not even about dancing or singing. Really, is there anything left?”

“I literally just said it, you idiot.”

He rolls closer to her, not caring about how dirty his clothes must be now. Will he finally get an answer?

“What? Pleaaase tell me, noona,” he whines despite hating sounding so immature, “I literally can’t stop thinking about it. I’m curious!”

“I’m so curious,” Chaewon sings, laughing at the judgement in his eyes. “Seriously, you don’t know? It’s your confidence, Junho-ah. I watched a few Produce episodes and all your fancams, then and now. You don’t look as awkward on stage, you’re getting more comfortable being in front of a camera, you’re coming out of your shell.”

“What. That’s not that impressive, noona, it’s literally just my job.”

“Well, as an idol, it’s also your job to sing and dance,” she fights back, drawing another heart after seeing his pout. “Don’t say that, it _is_ impressive. It takes a lot of courage to do things that make you uncomfortable.”

“You’re just making it sound cool,” Junho grumbles and not so accidentally steps on her foot. “I don’t think it’s that.”

“Sorry, but that’s the truth.” She gets up and kicks him in the thigh until he follows her. “Let’s go before Eunbi starts to worry.”

“I’ll only accept your apology if you send me So Curious’ studio version, noona.”

Chaewon’s words refuse to leave his mind even when he gets in the car. Seungyoun is driving and Hangyul already took the passenger seat, so he sits with Dohyon. He doesn’t really know how to talk about what Chaewon said without being direct, but it’s the Team Rocket he’s with. Knowing it probably won’t bother them, Junho goes for it:

“Chaewon-noona said my biggest improvement was coming out of my shell.”

Hangyul hums, probably knowing he’s not really done. Seungyoun stays silent. Dohyon looks like he’s already half asleep.

“That’s a bit disappointing… I’m in X1 to sing and dance, I should focus on that… I’m really trying my best, hyungs, I really want to be better.”

He doesn’t know why he sounds like he’s trying to convince them. Maybe because he’s also trying to convince himself.

Seungyoun giggles. Not so silent, after all.

“You know what, Chacha? Singing and dancing, those skills can be improved by practicing. Of course, we’re proud of you for being a better singer and dancer, but that’s not your biggest improvement. It’s harder to become more confident like you did, practice can’t really help. You just… have to do your best and try again if it doesn’t work.”

Seungyoun’s voice sounds exactly like it usually does, but also softer. Junho realizes it’s because he never noticed how soft and fond the other sounds when he talks to him. That and his words bring tears to his eyes, but he doesn’t want to cry.

Dohyon probably sees it since he wraps an arm around his shoulders. It doesn’t help, not really: it’s so cute, so nice, it’s hard not to cry. He’s so glad he has them, even when their maknae destroys his shoulder to sleep in the car.

“Right, we’re so proud of you,” Hangyul adds and Junho can hear his smile, “the things that probably seem small to you, we notice them, all of them. When you practiced your smile in front of our bathroom’s mirror, Seungwoo saw you. That night, he stayed in our room for half an hour and that’s literally all he talked about. You don’t see it, but when you don’t run away from the camera, Wooseok’s smile gets bigger.”

“You make Yohan’s eyes shine,” Dohyon mumbles in his shoulder.

“Yohan’s eyes always shine,” he objects.

“Yeah, but they shine the brightest when he sees you on stage.”

(That night, he texts Chaewon to thank her.

She replies with a picture of a new heart. The page is full.)

**Author's Note:**

> please leave comments i love them as much as yohan and eunsang love junho <3
> 
> @ kate: thank you soooo much for making me notice how he's more confident and out of his shell, this fic happened thanks to you!!
> 
> "chaewon and junho aren't best friends" ao3 refuses to let me post a produce fic unless one of my produce girls is the main character's best friend. whoopsie <3
> 
> twitter: @mekimingyu


End file.
